The Penn Stater Magazine

More on Paterno vs. Bowden

March 10, 2009 at 3:36 pm Tina Hay Leave a comment

In today’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, sports columnist Ron Cook makes an argument that doesn’t get talked about as much as it perhaps should: Joe Paterno, and not Bobby Bowden, deserves to be college football’s all-time winningest coach because Bowden earned 31 of his wins at Howard College (now Samford University), which was not a Division 1-A school.

“According to the NCAA’s bizarre guidelines,” Cook writes, “a coach gets to count all of his wins against four-year schools—regardless of the level—once he has coached 10 years on the Division I-A level.”

Paterno currently holds the lead with 383 wins; Bowden is one win behind him.

Cook thinks both Bowden and Paterno should both retire in any case; he says JoePa has “stayed on long past his expiration date.” He adds: “It’s pretty ridiculous that he coaches from the press box during games and often from home during the week.” But it sounds like Cook wouldn’t be sorry if the NCAA sanctions announced last week against Florida State end up costing Bowden some of his wins.

Tina Hay, editor

Entry filed under: Joe Paterno, Penn State football. Tags: Bobby Bowden, Florida State, Joe Paterno, NCAA, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Ron Cook.